Alolan Muk



Type: /
Weaknesses: (X2)
Resistances: , , , (X0,5) and (X0)


Abilities:

Poison Touch: When the Pokémon attacks its opponents with a move that causes Physical Contact, there is a 30% chance that the target is Poisoned.

Gluttony: The Pokémon will use a berry when its Hit Points are below 50%.


Hidden Ability:

Power of Alchemy: The Pokémon copies the Ability of a defeated ally.


Base stats: 105 HP / 105 Attack / 75 Defense / 65 Special Attack / 100 Special Defense / 50 Speed


Muk never really seemed too interesting to me: it was just a big purple thing. But now, it's really colourful. That wasn't enough for me though. But then, I saw it became a Dark type, and oh boy, this thing became really good with this little change. That's one of the cool things with some of the Alolan forms, like Marowak: just a little thing, like a new typing, can make it a completely new Pokémon. Here's what you can do with this newly improved ball of slime:


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the sets


1. CroMuk



Muk-Alola @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Knock Off/Crunch/Poison Jab

Muk has surprisingly a lot going for it right now: great HP and Special Defense, which allows it to take on several threats in this metagame, such as Tapu Lele, with a good Attack stat to be able to retaliate hard. Not only it has great stats, but it also has an excellent typing, with only one weakness to Ground, and a great ability in Poison Touch, which makes so every contact with this Pokémon has a 30% to poison the opponent. With all of this combined, Muk is able to pull of a few sets, and this one is one of my favourites. You probably heard of CroCune, that disgusting Suicune set that ruled OR/AS UU. Well what if it had a better typing and more offensive, though? Enter CroMuk. The idea of this set is very simple: get Muk in, set up Curses, Rest off the damage, Sleep Talk shenanigans, then either repeat or start killing stuff with your offensive move. Curse is a great move, boosting both its Attack and Defense, the only downfall of this move being the fact that it reduces Speed; even then, Muk is already very slow, so it doesn't matter. Rest allows Muk to get rid of status and to heal up, at the cost of getting it asleep, and Sleep Talk works well with Rest since it doesn't fully become set up bait while asleep. Finally, the attacking move depends on what your team needs; Knock Off is generally the best option because of its general usefulness and decent power. Crunch is also an option over Knock Off, because it doesn't lose power when the opposing Pokémon's item is lost, unlike Knock Off. Finally, Poison Jab can be used, though it is only really useful on Fairy-weak teams due to it being walled more easily. When using this set, try weakening Muk's biggest checks/counters and to get Muk in safely on a weaker Pokémon or on a special attacker, as they usually can't touch Muk for much damage. Getting rid of the defensive Pokémon from the opposing team is also very useful. If done properly, it will be able to set up easily without getting stopped in its track, allowing for impressive sweeps. The EV spread is pretty simple and makes Muk as specially defensive as possible, its Defense already boosted by Curse. Black Sludge gives it passive recovery, which is always nice.

calcs:

Offensive:



Defensive:



2. AV Tank



Muk-Alola @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Atk / 48 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak

This set is really great in the current metagame as it is actually one of the best Tapu Lele check available at the moment, being immune to Psychic and tanking surprisingly well Moonblasts, while being able to Pursuit trap it, which often does enough damage to allow for Muk's teammates to take care of it. It also hits very hard, even without full investment/boosting item. Knock Off has great utility, removing the item of any Pokémon hit by this attack, and boasting nice power because of STAB. Poison Jab is a good Poison STAB that also has a 51% chance to poison the opponent when coupled with its ability Poison Touch. Pursuit is one of the best move Muk could have; because of it, nothing can swich out safely, and the chip damage from Pursuit is often useful to help a partners sweep. Finally, Shadow Sneak is a solid option that is used to pick off weakened Pokémon/frail Pokémon and is also helpful to help mitigate Muk's incredibly bad Speed stat because of the priority. Because of all of this, Muk is a very good Pokémon that supports the team very well by sponging special hits, removing items, and Pursuit-trapping things to weaken them, three things that are very useful to render a sweep possible/easier to do for its partners. I would recommend pairing this with a Fighting types, as they really appreciate Muk's ability to both switch into Psychic and Fairy-types while aslo being able to KO them with one of its STAB. The EV spread is calculated so it will never be 2HKO'ed by a Modest Choice Specs Tapu Lele's Moonblast (not including critical hits).


calcs:

Offensive:



Defensive:




3. Choice Band Attacker



Muk-Alola @ Choice Band
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
- Shadow Sneak
- Pursuit/Explosion

This set, as opposed to the others, isn't about being bulky and setting up boosts or about supporting the team: it's all about dishing out damage. Because of its decent STAB combination, access to high base power moves and fairly good Attack stat, Muk can punch holes in teams and makes for a decent wallbreaker, especially with the Choice Band equipped, boosting its Attack by 1,5 times. For the moves, Muk has access to two very powerful STAB moves in Knock Off, which is also very useful to remove opposing Pokémon's items, and Gunk Shot, which is very powerful and also has a good chance to poison opponents. Shadow Sneak, however, is quite weak and not even boosted by STAB, but it is still very useful to pick off weakened foes and to get a bit of chip damage before getting KOed. Finally, in the last slot, there are two viable options. Pursuit is the one I would recommend because it guarantees damage on any Pokémon as they can't switch out without taking damage, and it is also boosted by STAB. Explosion can be used to have a very strong neutral hit that will deal solid damage to anything. It is very powerful and it bops pretty much anything, but don't use it too recklessly; using Explosion too early in the battle could make you lose the game, and Muk is often a Pokémon worth keeping healthy during the early game because removing items and Pursuit trapping is incredibly useful. The EVs are pretty simple: max Attack for power and max HP to allow Muk to still be fairly bulky. However, you could instead opt for a 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe EV spread as it allows Muk to outspeed uninvested base 65 Speed Pokémon, such as Alomomola, and anything slower.


calcs:

Offensive:



Defensive:




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good partners


Fighting Types: Fighting types, such as Bewear, appreciate Muk's ability to beat Psychic and Fairy types, while they can remove Steel types that would be troublesome to Muk.

Physical Walls: Muk has pretty mediocre Defense, so having a physical wall to sponge physical hits is really useful.

Ground Checks: Muk is only weak to Ground, so having a check for this is very important.

Hazards Setters: Having hazards up on the opponent's side is very useful since it allows Muk to get more KOs.

Steel Checks: On the CroMuk set, if running Poison Jab, a Steel check is necessary since they can wall it.

Skarmory: Skarmory deserves a special mention as it can set up hazards, sponge physical hits and is immune to Ground.


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threats

Ground Moves: Pretty obvious: super effective=big damage. Beware of coverage moves too, since a lot of Pokémon can carry Earthquake without being a Ground type.

Physical Attackers: Muk has pretty poor Defense, so be careful against physical attackers.

Steel Types: Bulky Steel types can tank its Dark moves with ease and are immune to Poison, leaving Muk a bit helpless against them.

Dugtrio (non-Alolan): Dugtrio is especially annoying since it traps Muk and KOs it with Earthquake.

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